DM's Summer Faves

Oh, I used to post all my latest favorite things every month.  I still have lots of favorites - life is one big discovery of awesome material objects - but alas, blogging is like second or third on my to-do list, always, and I almost never get that far.  So it goes.

But it's summer and even though it's practically too late to share the scoop - half this stuff has already been taken off shelves in favor of backpacks and fall jackets - some of it always applies.  So far it's been a great summer, and here are some of the things I've loved:

BUDDHA BOARD
Our family received this as a Christmas present years ago; I store it away for a few months, then get it out for a few, and it never fails to entertain and fascinate.  This summer I've brought it to the pool for Poppy's enjoyment, since she has had to sit around for an hour every morning during the sisters' swimming lessons.  Love how fast it dries, and we've gotten lots of comments and inquiries from kids and adults alike.

DRY(-ISH) SUNBLOCK
We have an extensive hodge podge of sunscreen tubes in our summer bag, and this one from Neutrogena is my newest favorite.  55 SPF satisfies our fair complexion needs, and it is indeed as light and non-greasy as I've found anywhere.  I think it even would dry, in a climate with less than 90% humidity, but I may never know for sure, at least not this summer.

It's photographed on one of my CHEVRON-STRIPE SKIRTS from Old Navy.  Soft wide waistband, flowy A-line drape, past-knee length, and flattering but bold stripe print - it's like the perfect summer skirt.  PLUS it was very flag-ish on the 4th of July.  But I remained conservative and got it in only two of the three colors.  And that's only because I got a couple of other longer Chevron skirts at Kohl's a month or two ago.  Ahem.  I just like them.

And while we were at Old Navy last month, picked up these cutie "FLIP-POPS" for Poppy - I loved the white-on-green, and the elastic strap in back is indispensable.

Speaking of pool shoes, I finally retired my worn-out fake crocs and invested in a "real" pair - CANDACE in Oyster (white).  I thought they'd be so summery, but mostly they make me look like a nurse.  I like them anyway, though.  They go with all my new striped skirts!

SALTWATER CANVAS WHALE BAG
I have a gazillion tote bags, but I am sick and tired of not having a single one big enough for our pool tote needs.  So I did 15 minutes of research, and got us this massive 10-pocketed mesh bag from Saltwater Canvas.  Overall, I love it.

What I like:

• Lots and lots of pockets, and I use them all! 
• Hidden inner zipper pocket to hold money and phone
• D-ring to clip keys onto so they don't sink to the bottom
• Mesh is super strong and allows water/sand to sift out bottom
• Main compartment is HUGE enough to easily hold 4+ beach towels, diaper pack, and change of clothes for all of us

What I wish was different:

• A bit of padding on the straps would go a long way, or even a padded velcro wrap that would hold the straps together.
• I wish is had at least one plastic/vinyl lined pocket to keep wet & dry things separate.  Instead I bring a plastic grocery bag.
• I wish the bottom was reinforced instead of mesh so I could place it on a wet surface (i.e., the concrete ground at the pool) without my things getting wet.  But it's a toss-up because the mesh might be nice at the beach to let sand out.

I also noticed at the pool a lot of Moms have Scout bags - I'm attracted by their bold patterns and enormous size, but I don't see any with the pockets that mine has, and I love the pockets.  I don't know about you, but we bring a lot of pocket-size things to the pool like sunscreen, goggles, water bottles, snacks, comb, shampoo, and books.

DANCE ACADEMY
A few weeks ago, I saw the Paris Opera Ballet perform Giselle at the Kennedy Center.  I was entranced.  I came home and bought tickets to take my girls to the Washington Ballet's The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe next month.  And I put Dance Academy on my Netflix queue.  My ballerina friend told me about it at Giselle - it's an Australian teen drama, and they're all at, you guessed it, the National Dance Academy in Sydney. 

I was hooked after the second episode, and I have worked my way through the first, and now second, seasons faster than I care to admit.  The conflicts and issues that arise in season 1 are fairly predictable, but handled well, and I just love all the dancing.  I keep thinking, how did they find so many actors that can dance so well, or dancers that can act?  Either way, I think it's wonderful - not extremely deep, but also not trashy or idiotic, like most American "teen" shows.  Just well done, and I am totally into it, hook, line and sinker.  Season 2 has taken some surprising twists, and I can feel the show maturing, in a good way, just as the characters are.  Go watch it so we can talk about it.  It's been a great summer escape.

Summer Fun Club 6 and 7...and other happenings last week

 We were QUITE put out, literally, during our three-day power outage in record heat last week.  Man.  I feel like we (I) are (am) still recovering, a week later.  Summer Fun Club took a hit last week as well, but even though we were essentially homeless, I still really wanted to take advantage of our pre-4th window to do some patriotic SFC activities.

6 - Last Monday we spent all afternoon at our friends' house, after a trip to emergency-lit-only Home Depot to pick up a stack of freebie paint chips.  They fed us lunch, let us nap & play, hosted us in their inflatable pools late in the afternoon, AND fed us dinner, which is about the time I got the text from my neighbor our power was back on.  What friends!  Including them in our 4th of July paint chip garland activity was the least we could do.  

For detailed instructions, see this Easter garland post.  Obviously adaptable to any holiday or color scheme.  This time we used star, circle, and butterfly shapes.

7 -  So glad our power was back just in time to make our annual 4th of July sugar cookies on the 3rd!

This time WE hosted some OTHER friends whose power was STILL out.  What a crazy week it was.

 After the cookies were all baked, glazed, sprinkled half to death, packed up, and our friends off on their way, the girls settled in for a good solid play with the Little People Nativity set, which I had gotten out over the weekend to use the sheep in my Primary lesson, and hadn't packed away yet.  There's nothing like Christmas in July.

 

The rest of the week, SFC was a wash.  Wednesday, obviously, was the 4th.  Church pancake breakfast, neighborhood parade, naps, ice cream social at our neighbors' house, dinner out at Cafe Rio - our first venture to the newly opened Utahn institution-, and fireworks at the Washington Golf and Country Club left time for little else that day. 

Thursday the 5th, I had a little art activity planned for the afternoon, but by lunchtime I could tell Ginger was super tired from the night before, so I put her down for a nap same time as Poppy.  When I came down to talk to Hazel about the afternoon, I found her conked out on the sofa.  Just as well because I was taking dinner to a friend (that I hadn't started cooking yet), and also needed to start some serious cleaning for the next baby-shower-of-the-century I was hosting on Saturday.

Friday, I also had an activity planned, but when the afternoon rolled around, I saw I was in serious trouble for getting the house ready for the shower the next morning.  The girls were so enraptured in the decorating and set-up, however, that they willingly gave up SFC in order to help me get things ready.  

I didn't make the diaper cakes, but they were such pretty centerpieces I had to show a picture anyway!

 While I'm at it, here are just a few pics of the shower - it was a pancake party!  We had three kinds of pancakes, and multiple toppings, including homemade freezer jams, root beer syrup, and vanilla-pear sauce.  I think my favorite combo was Nutella swirl pancakes spread with chocolate ganache and drizzled with root beer syrup...I digress.

My POINT (yes, I have one) is that even though we only "met" twice last week, we are still having a super fun summer.  And we're back on track, pretty much, for our regular meetings this week.  I have so many activity ideas, we don't have enough days for them all!  So I am choosing carefully, and we'll just save the rest for fall break.

Happy 4th

 Maybe you heard about the crazy freak storm that blew through here last week, knocking out power and igniting a kind of shocked mayhem for millions.  We lost power Friday night, and spent the next few days mooching off friends' and neighbors' air conditioning and hospitality, until our electricity came back on Monday night.  Two days later we are still reeling and recovering.  And extremely grateful for cold water and cold air.

While we are still figuring out how our family wants to celebrate some holidays, 4th of July has been a no-brainer for us ever since we moved here four years ago.  Flag-raising and pancake breakfast at our church, followed by the  best small-town parade ever in our own neighborhood.  Here's Uncle Sam, a.k.a Joe the Irish Painter, who has pained several rooms in our house.

With the very recent power outage, there was a definite theme to the floats this year.  Like this one - there are two power poles strung and the poster says "Barcroft Salutes Dominion."

This one says "Arlington Cooling Center" (there were a lot of announcements about cooling centers over the weekend) and "We Survived Wind-Mageddon."

Here's our personal favorite, and it has nothing to do with our friends driving and our kids shooting spray bottles off the back.

This lady was awesome - she is carrying a huge splintered piece of the power pole that went down in one of the streets in our neighborhood, which was the culprit of many of the outages.  

Channel 7 news was even there, sticking cameras in faces during the parade - here's a clip with a lot of shots of our float - you can even see me around 0:48 but don't blink (top left, blue shirt, taking a picture.)

Adorableness.

After the parade, everyone gathers at the community house, where we communally feast on burgers, watermelon, and Costco cake, and enjoy whatever entertainment has been hired this year.  I think this year was the best - Frank Cassel "The Banjo Man"...

And this extremely patient balloon artist that put up with a lot of pushy parents (not ME, of course) and really obnoxious middle school boys who had nothing better to do than to heckle him.  My girls were really thrilled with their balloon corsage, sword, and braided thingy you see in the picture.

Red, white, and blue ice cream sandwiches topped off the morning.

And it's only 2pm.  We actually have at least two more big events today.  But since everyone is napping, and I have done some token cleaning-up around the place, thought I'd sit down for a minute, breathe deeply, and catch up on the important stuff: blogging.  Happy 4th to you all!

Summer Is...ON

Yesterday the weather reached ONE HUNDRED DEGREES.  As if that message wasn't clear enough, today is the last day of school.   

We thought we'd start the summer off by me throwing the baby shower of the century tonight (woot!), and potty training Poppy on Saturday.  Then Sunday I need to have a serious, very serious, planning session with myself.  Because starting Monday, I, as MOM, am ON. 

When I was young, my Mom would take us on a rotation of morning outings in the summer - swim lessons, library, park, etc.  Once in awhile there was a craft project at home.  All this was done under the diabolically clever name, "Summer Fun Club", which I still remember as being way more amazing and fun than my Mom does.  Then, in the afternoons, we were on our own to read, play, imagine, ride bikes, and cavort with the neighborhood kids until dinner.  The summers all blur together but my general memory is that they were awesome.

Some things are the same these days; some, different.  I've been making mental plans for a few months now of how I want to structure our summer days so we are all busy - and happy - enough, but not over scheduled.  I have a knack for setting impossible targets like that.  Mostly I just want to avoid, to a realistic extent, 1) justified whining, "I'm bored!", and 2) too much screen time, which is what happens when I fail to plan.

So.  Let me pull my act together and next week I'll report on what and how we're doing.  In the meantime, let's hear how you handle summer with your school kids home.  And to get the ball rolling, here's a great post from my sister's blog - Mom, What Can I Do? - and one from the Local Living section of the Washington Post yesterday - Summer on the Brain. 

It's good to know that if all else fails, I can enroll the girls in an SAT prep course. 

Teacher Gifts 2012

It is that time of year.  Again.  Ginger finished preschool last week, and I'm not ashamed to say I cried like a little girl - seriously, bawled - at the end-of-year music program.  Saying goodbye to her tiny two-year window of preschooldom was painful, a pain whose only alleviation was the giddy little thrill of putting together a year-end gift for her amazing teacher.

Teacher appreciation week was last month, and our class pooled contributions for a generous restaurant gift certificate for her and the school's music teacher, so our year-end gift was simple.  I'll just let you know now, this post holds no new ideas, just a rehashing of former ones I've posted - ain't broke, don't fix it.  It's just a good way for me to keep track of who we've given what, when.

And while I was on the teacher gift vein, I've ordered/bought/planned the ones for Hazel's teachers, too, even though she still has a few weeks.  Hazel has three teachers - a man and a woman that job share as her 1st grade teacher, and a wonderful grandmotherly full-time teacher's aide.  So here's what we're doing.

For Ginger's preschool teacher AND Hazel's woman teacher - a copy of Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman, a personalized "Ex Libris" stamp, and two different colors of archival quality ink pads.  I ordered the stamps from Etsy - there are a lot of cool ones on there!  This one for Ginger's teacher:

And this one for Hazel's:

For Hazel's man teacher, you have to know he has two children under 2, and the poor man is a walking zombie of sleep deprivation, though he has still managed to teach my 7-year-old to read fluently this year so I'm not complaining.  It's just that every time I talk to him he asks, "How old is Poppy again?" followed by a recent anecdote of extreme parenting that he doesn't remember he already told me last time.  But he's always got a smile on his face, and Hazel adores him.  So, keeping the family orientation of his life in mind, I'm sticking with the no-failer - my favorite ice pops book (or maybe I'll try this one) and a set of star-shaped popsicle molds.  Take a load off this summer, Mr. B.

And for Hazel's teacher aide, who has put up with heaven-knows-what this year, I'm taking an idea from a comment on last year's post.  When we went strawberry-picking last Saturday at Homestead Farm, I stopped into their farm stand for a bag of buttermilk pancake mix and a jar of peach melba preserves.  I hope she can have some leisurely breakfasts this summer on us.

Finally, that picture at the top of this post?  It came attached to a funny - and practical - article I found about teacher gifts here.  It's nice to know I'm at least not on the wrong track.

Summer of Kelly

Hey, y'all.

That's how Kelly always greets us, and I have developed a surprising fondness for the warm southern saying. All part of what I call "The Kelly Effect."

I've composed this post a few different times, and have always failed to do justice to Kelly or what I really want to say about her. So I'm going to just do my best and keep it short.

Kelly is an enthusiastic soul from a small town in Florida. Her life story is astounding, due in part to her adventurous nature. In June Kelly felt the call of the road and decided to give D.C. a whirl. We didn't know her beforehand, but through a church email I felt a prompting to offer her short-term lodging while she looked for a place to live. A part of me hesitated to let a stranger in, but a larger part knew something good would come of it.

Kelly arrived in her black Buick on July 3 and quickly set herself up neatly in a corner of our office. An air mattress, some clothes, and a generous warmth that quickly filled our whole house. Kelly loves to wash dishes. She admittedly loves fast food but is also a vegetarian ("I'll have a Big Mac but sub tomatoes for the meat.") She loves jewelry and can fix her own car. The girls swarmed to her like bees to honey, and so did I. She has a laid-back way that made her willing, no, happy, to play games with them, watch them do tricks, make art.

Between work and church responsibilities, Ed was gone most of July, so Kelly was like a roommate to me, too. After the girls went to bed, Kelly and I would wash dishes, talk, eat ice cream, and watch chick flicks. Early on we discovered a shared crush on Scott McGillivray, and a Twilight rivalry (she's Team Jacob but she has only seen the movies, not read the books, so she doesn't have the whole picture.) She regaled me with stories of her twin sister Kerry, who went and got married in Vegas during Kelly's time with us. And her "Daddy", who's never been farther than Alabama in his whole life. And her brother "Bubba" who turned 22 during July, and how she wishes he would do something with his life. I learned quickly her signature phrases - "Hey y'all", "What's going on?" and "I'm only a text away!"

And the babysitting! One night I went out to the movies with a friend! On a weeknight! And then we went out for a cupcake after! One Sunday morning I was stricken hard and fast with strep throat. Ed was at a meeting so Kelly stayed with the girls while I went to Urgent Care. One time when Ed was in town we had a date - a DATE! -, and Kelly babysat. Sure, she put on Poppy's diaper backwards but no harm done and we all had a good laugh on it. Several times I ran some night errands, which I never could have done otherwise.

Kelly was with us for five weeks, then she moved into an apartment nearby so we still see each other. But it was terribly sad to let her go. She is like a sister, a friend, an aunt. What I really want to say, and give ode to, is that her month with us was like a balm. I was sick for most of it, and tired the rest of the time. I was lonely without Ed, and her cheery companionship provided distraction and comfort when I would otherwise be spending my time self-medicating with bad TV and cheap chocolate. She helped with the kids when I was stressed out and worn down. And, a few times when I felt so overwhelmed by inadequacy, discouragement and near self-loathing, she kindly piped up with a compliment that there's no way she could have known I needed.

Here's a picture of Kelly with the girls. You can just see how much they love her. I still didn't do it, or her, justice, but I needed to try. Because of Kelly, it was a great summer.

Camp Week!

Phew. This last week the girls went to summer camps. Ginger was in "Vacation Bible School" 9 to 12 every day at the local Presbyterian church - there was a cafe/cooking theme where she learned "God's recipe" for her, including Bible crafts, stories, and verses each day, plus of course songs, cooking and playground time. Her friend Charlotte from our church was in her class, and me and Charlotte's mom seemed to be the only ones daring enough to park in the Mormon church parking lot across the street during pick-up and drop-off. There was a color each day that they dressed in, and lots of other cooking-Bible theme stuff that was hard to get the straight story on, but Ginger loved it. And it was cheap.

Hazel went to lacrosse camp. We've always kind of had lacrosse in mind for her, at least to try, and rising 1st-graders are the youngest that can start, so we decided to jump her in. Rented a stick and mask, bought and molded a mouthguard, and showed up the first day to Marymount campus, where we checked her in and she ran off to the field, immediately starting to toss a ball with another girl. She'd never touched a stick before, never seen the game played. Hazel is just that kind of kid. Camp was every day 9 to 3 - she ate lunch in the cafeteria, mostly root beer floats and the occasional slice of pizza from what I can tell, and a dip in the college pool after lunch for a break from the heat, then back on the field for drills and scrimmages. Campers - about 50 of them - were age 6 to 17, and Hazel was the very youngest. After the first day, the coach told me cheerfully, "She is such a character!" and "Everyone knows her name!" Hmm. Hazel's end-of-day reports were as spotty as Ginger's, but she seemed to love it, especially all the socializing with older girls. Check out this sportsgirl:
And Poppy, well as usual she went to Mommy camp. But on Monday morning she must have felt the buzz of something new happening, because she kept trying on both of the other girls' backpacks, and squawking protest if we took them away. So I hunted down Hazel's old toddler backpack, put Poppy's cup in it, and there. She was ready for her week. She wore that backpack every morning out to the car, and held it on her lap once buckled in. By Wednesday she figured out how to unzip it and to her delight found some fruit snacks in the pocket for her trouble.As for me, I was a busy bee all week. Between the 9 o'clock drop-offs and the 12- and 3 o'clock pick-ups, I tried to get Poppy her naps and also get some serious to-do tasks done, like:

• Scheduling our HVAC maintenance
  
• Calling our health insurance to clarify some points of coverage
  
• Setting up a consultation to finally have my mole removed (yes, that mole, the one that frightens children and distracts adults)
• Hiring an interior designer to help me finally, once and for all, pick some darn colors to paint the family room and downstairs
• Hosting an Art Tuesday
• Preparing a four-family meal for a dinner exchange some friends and I are trying
• Doing a 4-meal session at Let's Dish (more on that in another post)
• Cleaning out and taking inventory of the freezer
• Constantly picking up the entire house
• Doing everyone's laundry
• Catching up on both blogs
• Balancing the budget
• Getting over a cold
• Two trips to the library
• Helping the girls sort and count their piggy bank money, run it through the Coinstar machine, and buy food for the Arlington Food Assistance Center (an outreach project of Ginger's Bible school)
  
• And of course watching a few shows from Netflix and the DVR - currently obsessed with Firefly and Income Property.

Now that camps are over, we are just realizing it is a holiday weekend. And that it's July. This is our one big summer month since Hazel goes back to school the first week of August. Things on the calendar include but are not limited to - a sleepover at Grandma's, a trip to Pie Gourmet, swimming lessons, a show at the Discovery Theater, several playdates, Art Tuesdays, getting the darn family room painted, and maybe even a date with Ed! But that might be asking too much.

Fashion Week

Hellooo. I've gone and made a new Listmania! list. It gives me the feeling of being organized. I think you'll like it:

Picture Books for the Burgeoning Fashionista

We have a few fashionistas around here. Poppy's got a new shoe fettish and likes to get her hair "done" in the morning with her sisters (though she won't keep any bobs in.)

And. I got the girls Fashion Plates - anyone remember those? Like this but the originals, with all the 70's hair and clothes. Paid an arm and a leg on ebay for a complete set. But I love them and so do the girls. Watch our walls for some new decor...

Summertime

I do not care what the calendar says. It got hot last week, so that makes it summer. Then Ginger had her last day of preschool. And today it is NINETY-SIX DEGREES, so that seals the deal. This year we got season passes to the local public pool, but on days we just can't make it that far, this is what we'll be doing.